Pursuing Grace and Truth

Thursday, October 15, 2015

When it comes to finding balance and stability in this life, a lot of people, especially followers of Jesus are feeling like the world has gotten a bit wobbly?

·Have you noticed that the world around us is changing? Navigating this culture as a Christian seems to be more and more challenging.

It was for THIS VERY REASON, that the
book of 1 Peter was written.

It was on Peter’s heart to share some
words of INSIGHT and COMFORT with a collection of Christians who felt like the
proverbial rug was being pulled out from under them!

In a nutshell…

The purpose of Peter’s
letter was to ENCOURAGE and STRENGTHEN Christians who were suffering under cultural
confusion and stifling persecution.

And as OUR WORLD and
CULTURE seem to be showing signs of shift, perhaps we could use some encouragement
and strengthening as well!

And what better place to come to
God’s word for answers and reassurance!

Before we dive in, I want to give you
a picture of some of the primary themes 1 Peter touches upon:

PRIMARY THEMES OF 1 PETER

·Salvation and Sanctification

·Dealing with Authorities

·Persecution and Suffering

·Advice for Married Couples

·Lessons for Leaders

·God’s Justice and Judgment

But in the overall sense, what we
might call the view from 30,000 feet…1 Peter is a book that was mainly written
to help buoy the spirits of Christians who felt like they were drowning under
the waves of cultural change and religious persecution.

Once again, how timely
is that for our day and age!?

If there is a key word that
I believe would summarize the intent of Peter’s letter it would be the word
HOPE.

Let me ask this question that you can
answer in the quiet of your heart today:

Are the current
cultural upheavals and shifting sands of society causing you to despair? To be
anxious? To be filled with fear?

If so, here’s some good news: God,
writing through Peter’s pen, wants you and I to know that there CAN BE hope in
the midst of the storm and light in the midst of the darkness!

So, to start things off today, we are
only going to take on the first two verses from the first chapter of 1 Peter.

Ready to go?

1 Peter 1:1-2

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus
Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to
you.

If there is a phrase that really
frames the start of Peter’s letter it is how Peter addresses the recipients of
his letter: “To those who are elect
exiles of the Dispersion”

Another version of the Bible puts it
this way:

"To
those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia."

Here, Peter is describing the
recipients of his letter.

He calls them elect
exiles!

Other Bible versions refer to this
collection of people as either strangers, sojourners or pilgrims.

·What in the world does this mean?

·Who are these people?

Let’s begin with the fact that Peter
referred to them as exiles.

Have you ever been in a place or
situation where you felt completely out of place? Maybe you didn’t understand the
language or the culture. Whatever the case, all
you knew was that you didn’t fit in.

Well, the same thing often happens to
us when we become Christians.

I don’t know about you, but after I
gave my life to Jesus, some of friendships, my activities and even some of my
employment situations didn’t seem the same to me. I felt different, sort of like a
stranger or an alien.

Well, in a nutshell, Peter is writing
to a number of Christians who lived under a steady stream of harassment and persecution, and as a result
they were people who constantly felt pushed around and unappreciated.

It felt like they
didn’t have a place they could call home!

One of the main reasons for all the
negative vibes and the bad treatment of Christians was rooted in some events
that took place in Rome.

So what happened in Rome that made it
so tough to be a Christian?

In 64 AD, the city of Rome was almost
wiped out by a fire that burned for an entire week.

Many of the Roman citizens believed
the fire was started by their Emperor, Nero.

·The rumor on the streets that was being spread about was that Nero wanted
build new buildings and structures throughout Rome, and the only way he could
do that was to get rid of the buildings and structures that already existed.

·Now, historically speaking, the validity of these rumors has never been
verified, but for the people of Rome, who were angry and frustrated with so
much loss, it didn’t really matter

·Their anger towards Nero burned as hot as the fires that had destroyed
70% of the city they called home.

So Nero, feeling the pressure and
wrath of the citizenry, sought out a scapegoat. He felt the need to pin the
blame on someone else to get some the hostility pointed at him redirected.

Well, guess who Nero chose to play
the role of his scapegoats?

Christians.

And because of Nero’s decision, the
Christians of that day certainly felt the wrath of Roman society.

Now, at the same time all of this
happening, persecution of believers was already a fact of life.

·Some Christians were persecuted by their own families.

·Some Christians were harassed because of a perceived association with the
Jews.

·Some Christians were mistreated because they refused to worship the
Emperor.

·Some Christians were persecuted because Christianity was viewed by some
as an obscure or bizarre cult.

·Some Christians were persecuted because they couldn’t go along with some
of the customs and practices that were considered normal and acceptable in the
Greco-Roman world.

But the devastation of Rome seemed to
bring things to a NEW LEVEL OF PERSECUTION…so much so that Peter, obviously
moved by the Holy Spirit, felt it necessary to write a letter of hope, advice
and encouragement to a collection of people who felt like they didn’t fit in
anywhere.

More and more, these Christians felt
like strangers…like aliens…like they didn’t fit in anywhere

Here’s a truth we all need
to grab hold of: when we become a follower of Jesus, we automatically find
ourselves as a people who no longer really have a foundational connection to
this world!

Jesus put it this way when He prayed
for His disciples in John 17: He described them as being in the world, but not
of it!

Now, this doesn’t mean that we are to
simply hide out until Jesus return.

No! As followers of Jesus, we have a
very important mission while we remain here on the earth!

·We have the mission of sharing the Gospel!

·We have the mission of expressing God’s compassion!

·We are here to love, serve, and share!

But, the reality remains that we
really do have a different place we call home!

Paul wrote this important passage of
scripture to the Philippian Christians which helps us understand this reality
of being strangers and aliens:

Philippians 3:17-21

17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on
those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18 For many, of whom I
have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the
cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and
they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20 But our
citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the
power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Here’s the deal: the moment we give
our life to Christ, and begin the journey of following Him, our roots to this
world begin to be pulled up!

We, for all intents and purposes,
have become citizens of heaven!

No wonder much of what is going on in
the world around us can begin to seem so strange and foreign!

And as a result, life can become a
bit more difficult and challenging!

Bottom line: living life as an alien,
or a stranger, or a pilgrim, or an exile isn’t easy. In fact, it can be painfully brutal.

It can be a time in life when people
feel alone and unwanted, as well as harassed and persecuted.

Kind of depressing huh?

I mean, who wants to be known as an
alien or an exile?

But, if you notice in verse 1 there
is also another word that Peter uses to describe these struggling
saints:

He refers to them as THE
ELECT.

Another word for ELECT is the word
CHOSEN.

Even though many of the Christians of
Peter’s day the world were being treated
with disdain or disgust, God had a completely different perspective!

God considered these believers to be
a people who very much had a home with Him.

In fact, a general takeaway from
reading the Bible as a whole is that God seems to have a special place in his
heart to reaching out to those who have been discouraged and displaced. Consider the words and sentiment from Psalm 68:

Psalm 68: 4-6

Sing to God, sing praises
to His name; Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts, Whose name
is the LORD, and exult before Him. A father of the fatherless and a judge for
the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He
leads out the prisoners into prosperity…

In essence, Peter’s message to these
hassled and harried Christians was this: you may be totally rejected by the
world, but KNOW that you are completely accepted by God!

2 verses into his letter, Peter
sought to offer comfort his readers by reminding these Christians of their
glorious calling as believers!

Sometimes this concept of God
choosing us can be difficult to comprehend.

Why would God choose me
to be part of his family?

Well, it isn’t because we’ve done
anything to earn it!

No, the truth of the matter is that
we are called into God’s family solely by HIS choosing, not ours!

So, the rest of verse 2 serves as an
explanation of how the adoption of process of God works:

Peter breaks things down into three
unique components:

1.According to the
foreknowledge of the Father

The idea here is that way back…I mean
WAY BACK…back before the creation of the world, God chose those people who
would become His family of followers!

His choosing wasn’t based on merit or
performance or impressiveness, but was rooted in MERCY!

Which is really good
news!

See, if God chose us based upon our
abilities and our performance, He would surely have to pass over us. Remember, Romans 5:8 reminds us that
when Christ died for us, our status was listed as that of SINNER! But God chooses us because of His
great love, His great mercy and His great power

2.In the SANCTIFICATION OF
THE SPIRIT

The word sanctification is a big
theological word that simply means SET APART.

For every Christian, there is a point
in time where the Holy Spirit of God draws a person out of the darkness and
into the light.

It is the Holy Spirit who begins
working on our heart and mind, giving us a true perspective about our sin, and
opening our eyes to the truth about our need for a Savior.

Ephesians 2 gives us an view of this
incredible reality:

Ephesians 2:1-9

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you
once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the
desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like
the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great
love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made
us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up
with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so
that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through
faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of
works, so that no one may boast.

What an amazing process this is!

God literally takes people heading in
one direction, and then supernaturally puts them on another track!

3.For OBEDIENCE TO JESUS
CHRIST AND SPRINKLING BY HIS BLOOD

The
third component in our election is the work accomplished by Jesus on the cross.

If Jesus
didn’t die in our place, our salvation could not be realized, because the debt
of our sin would never have been paid!

As
we worked through verse 2, did you notice that all 3 members of the Trinity of
God were at work in bringing about our salvation?

...As
far as the Father is concerned, I was saved when He chose me before the
foundation of the world.

...As
far as the Son is concerned, I was saved when He died for me on the cross.

But
as far as the Spirit is concerned, I was saved around 1970 when I first heard
the Gospel and responded in faith.

So
even though we may be viewed as exiles, aliens and strangers in the eyes of the
world, we are if fact the elect, the chosen and the adopted in the eyes of God!

Which means that even when
the world we live in can seem wobbly and unstable, we can reflect upon the fact
that we are confidently able to rest upon
the firm foundation of our relationship with our heavenly Father.

We
may be exiles, but we can relish in the fact that we are ELECT exiles!

Peter
closes out these verses with of introduction with a simple prayer found at the
end of verse 2:

May grace and peace be
multiplied to you.

Which is exactly what these
beleaguered believers were in need of!

They needed the grace
of God to strengthen and encourage for the uncertainties that may lay ahead.

And they were in need
of peace to calm the hearts and minds.

Now as we come to wrapping up our
study of these two verses, please note what Peter did NOT pray on their behalf:
He didn’t ask that these scattered saints
be delivered from all their problems and challenges!

Instead, He asked God to
provide them the necessary tools to be able to endure as well as excel in the
face of mounting difficulties!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Have
you ever thought about what a non-believer thinks about Communion?

Perhaps
they decide to visit a church on the very day we are taking the bread and cup.

What
do they see? What do they hear?

Truth
be told, there are some aspects of communion that might cause someone to have some
really questions.

The word communion, as far as our dictionaries are concerned, can be defined as: a close relationship with someone or
something; intimate fellowship or rapport; the sharing or exchanging of intimate
thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual
level.

Some words we can extract out of these definitions include

Closeness

Intimacy

Sharing

Fellowship

It’s
interesting to think that the particular action that broke the sweet, close
fellowship that man had with God before sin entered the world was the act of
EATING!

Eve
was deceived by Satan, who then coaxed Adam to eat from the one tree God had
instructed them not to eat.

One
bite did them in.

The
result? The opposite of communion.

Closeness
turned into distance

Intimacy
was replaced by shame and fear

Fellowship
was broken.

Where Adam and Eve had once walked through the Garden and asked God for wisdom and guidance,
they were now independent. Instead
of talking to their heavenly Father, they instead talked among themselves
saying “We know what’s good. We know what’s evil. We know how to handle this or
accomplish that!”

All
because of a bite.

That’s
what makes the teaching of Jesus from John 6 so intriguing to me, because in
the context of His lesson, Jesus invites his listeners to dare to take another
bite…

47 Truly, truly, I say
to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your
fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread
that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the
living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will
live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my
flesh.”

Eating from the tree of knowledge brought
about sure death.

But here Jesus says to those listening to Him
that to “eat” of Him will find life, in fact life that is forever!

52 The Jews then
disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

Obviously,
Jesus was seeking to make a spiritual illustration, but many who were listening
took His words literally, and began to wonder if Jesus was trying to promote
some sort of cannibalistic cult!

To
which, we might think that Jesus would at that point take a minute, slow done,
and say something like, “Whoa, hold on guys, you’re getting the wrong idea!”

But
Jesus does just the opposite.

If
fact, to use a modern expression, He appears to double down!

Here’s
what he says starting in verse 53:

53 So Jesus said to
them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my
flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father
sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will
live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like
the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live
forever.”

Once
again, if Jesus isn't taking about the actual consuming of human flesh, just
what IS He trying to say to his listeners?

Here’s
a few of the ways I process Jesus' teaching:

When
it comes to the cross work of Jesus, we must go beyond admiration to
engagement.

We
cannot stop at appreciating Christ’s work, we must go all the way to embracing
it.

The
call of Jesus is a call for our all.

We aren't called to wade, we are called to swim.

One
of the things that consumes our lives is the pursuit of food and drink.

Why?
Because without these two, our life very quickly comes to an end!

Here
in this passage, Jesus is telling us that, spiritually speaking, we need to
consume of Him.

The
essence of Christianity is wrapped up in the fact that if we don’t fully grab
hold of Jesus as our Lord and our Savior, we spiritually end up dying of hunger
and thirst.

He
is our sustenance.

He
is our nourishment.

He
is our life!

And
he invites us to take all He has to offer that we might be filled.

Through
communion we become involved in multiple activities, such as remembering the
reason for his death that saves us from sin, inviting Jesus to rule over our
lives presently, and looking forward to the time we join him in heaven for all
eternity.

And
the amazing thing is that Jesus invites us to his table, and all that the table
communicate, just as we are, simply acknowledging our desperate need for
everything He offers.

Communion,
therefore is not some cursory church activity that we put on the church
calendar to fulfill some religious obligation.

It
is instead a God-given opportunity to draw close to the One who has done
everything to make us right and holy and free.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Loved last night's FOLLOW class. Andy Stanley, in a video session called "Next Steps," used the scene from Luke 5 when Jesus started calling some fishermen to follow Him. Andy used the events in that story to talk about the four different stages we find ourselves in a journey with Jesus:

1, The "Sit and Listen" stage (Luke 5:1) - When we are investigating Jesus; listening to His teachings, exploring his actions and asking questions.2. The "Loan Jesus our Boat" stage (Luke 5:2-3) - The place where move from beyond listening and we are willing to be slightly inconvenienced by Jesus. We may make the effort to come to a church service or a small group.3. The "Fishing with Jesus" stage (Luke 5:4-8) - The moment we are willing to actually apply some of the instructions of Jesus, even if they don't seem to make sense to us.4. The "Leave Your Nets" stage (Luke 5:9-11) - When Jesus moves from being a good teacher in our lives to acting as our Lord.

Can you identify where you are on this list? Maybe you are wavering between a couple of them. Sometimes we surge ahead, other times we sense our forward motion is ever so slight.

Each one of these stages is a great place to be, but the encouragement of Jesus is to keep moving, keep following, keep stepping. They maybe small steps, and it may take some courage to get to the place we are willing to move to the next stage, but some movement is better than no movement!

FOLLOW is a CBC Interest Group and meets on Tuesday Nights from 6:30-8:00 pm in the Youth Lounge. We have 6 more sessions to go. Come check it out!